Brussels, 08/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU telecommunications ministers are in favour of re-using public service information (PSI) and give broad support to the European Commission's proposal to review the 2003 directive. Some concern was nonetheless raised by some delegations regarding enlargement to the cultural world. They also call for a more in-depth examination of cost balancing. Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, said such data are worth their weight in gold and “we are sitting on a goldmine”. She pointed out the enormous economic impact of re-using PSI in terms of profitability - by way of €40 billion annually for the 27 member states.
The Commission's proposal to revise the directive aims to eliminate the obstacles that persist between member states regarding the use of PSI. Such obstacles hinder fulfilment of the economic potential of this resource. The proposal mainly includes three new essential elements: - extension of the directive's scope to include cultural institutions, the obligation to authorise re-use of existing documents held by public sector bodies, and the pricing rules applicable to re-use. Several delegations expressed reservation about extending the scope of the directive to the cultural sector. Many delegations also feel it is appropriate to specify limits and rules relating to the invoicing of charges above marginal costs. In fact, there was a great deal of criticism regarding the over-high level of charges fixed for re-using documents, which is an obstacle to the re-use of PSI. Public budgets are under growing pressure and some public sector bodies are only able to provide services and data by imposing the high charges for the information that they communicate. The new directive is expected to provide more transparent guidelines on the matter. (IL/transl.jl)